Poland’s military said early Wednesday that it had shot down drones that violated its airspace during a Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine, the first time it has taken such a step in what is a major provocation for Europe and NATO forces.

“This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” said Poland’s Operation Command in a post on X Wednesday morning.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed a military response operation was underway “related to multiple violations of Polish airspace” and said “the military has used weapons against the objects.”

“The security of our homeland is our highest priority,” said President Karol Nawrocki, in a post on X, adding that he will lead a briefing of Poland’s National Security Bureau in the coming hours.

Poland is a member of the NATO alliance, a transatlantic defense pact involving the US that employs the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all. European faith in the reliability of that pact has been shaken under US President Donald Trump who, alongside key cabinet members, have called on Europe to the lead in its own defense.

Ned Price, a US State Department spokesperson during the Biden administration, said Russia may have sent drones over Poland to test NATO resolve and defenses.

While cautioning it could be the case that the drones flew over Poland by mistake or because of Ukrainian countermeasures, Price told CNN’s Laura Coates their presence, if deliberate, could expose what Russia might see as “weakness.”

US Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, was more direct.

“Repeated violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones are fair warning that Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations,” Durbin said in a post on X.

NATO command informed

Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland was “in constant contact with NATO command.”

“Territorial Defense Forces have been activated for ground searches of downed drones,” he said.

He urged people to “remain calm” and said anyone who found fragments of military equipment should report it to authorities.

The Operation Command said the military operation was ongoing and its units were “fully prepared for immediate response.” It urged residents to stay in their homes, saying the areas of Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lubelskie Voivodeships were the most “at risk.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN that he had been briefed on reports of Russian drones over Poland.

“Yes,” he said when asked by CNN if he had received a briefing, as he left a dinner with President Donald Trump on Tuesday night.

Earlier, Polish authorities closed Warsaw International Airport and the military said Polish and NATO aircraft had been scrambled as reports surfaced of Russian drones over the country.
The Polish military’s Operational Command said in a statement that “ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest level of alert” after Russia launched massive airstrikes on Ukrainian territory.

“To ensure the security of Polish airspace, the Operational Commander of the Polish Armed Forces has activated all necessary procedures,” the statement said, adding that the Polish military is “fully prepared for immediate response.”

A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) posted on the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website said Warsaw Chopin Airport and at least two other airports in Poland were unavailable “due to unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security.”

Before the NOTAM was posted, the Ukrainian Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that drones were heading west and threatening the city of Zamosc in Poland, but the statement has since been deleted, Reuters reported.

It was not immediately clear how many drones entered Poland’s airspace.

Ukrainian media reported that at least one drone was heading towards the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow. CNN cannot independently verify the reports.

Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport, in the southeast of Poland, has also been closed, according to a NOTAM. The airport has been a logistics hub for NATO aid to Ukraine, though the United States pulled its forces from the base earlier this year.

The airport in Lublin, Poland, southeast of Warsaw, was also unavailable due to military activity, another NOTAM said.

Putin emboldened after China parade

The military activity over Poland comes less than a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin was in China, where he met with leader Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in show of unity between the authoritarian allies.

Since that meeting, Russia has staged its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor more than three years ago.

The attacks in recent days have largely targeted residential areas around the country and in the capital of Kyiv. On Tuesday, 24 civilians were killed in a Russian strike on the village of Yarova in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said.

Last weekend, Russia deployed more than 800 drones in its largest attack to date, striking a government building in Kyiv for the first time.

The attack hit the Cabinet of Ministers building, which houses the prime minister’s office, as well as some government ministries.

All these attacks have come less than a month after a Putin summit with US President Trump in Alaska that ended without a deal to end the war. Any progress made has long since evaporated with Russia’s expanded aerial attacks.

Poland earlier announced it was closing its eastern border with Russian ally Belarus, due to joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises beginning Friday, Reuters reported.

The Zapad 25 large-scale exercises, which will take place in western Russia and Belarus, have raised security concerns not only in Poland but also in the neighboring NATO countries on Lithuania and Latvia, according to Reuters.

“On Friday, Russian-Belarusian maneuvers, very aggressive from a military doctrine perspective, begin in Belarus, very close to the Polish border,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a government meeting, Reuters reported.

“Therefore, for national security reasons, we will close the border with Belarus, including railway crossings, in connection with the Zapad maneuvers on Thursday at midnight,” Tusk said.

Source: CNN
--Agencies